Goðafoss or Dettifoss?
Two North Iceland waterfalls, two very different stops.

Use the route, not the photographs, to choose a waterfall

Goðafoss is a broad waterfall on the Skjálfandafljót river, about 12 metres high and 30 metres wide, around 35 kilometres from Akureyri. Dettifoss is a vast rush of water about 45 metres high and 100 metres wide. Those figures give you a sense of scale, but they cannot decide whether today is the day to detour. The practical difference is that one fits naturally into a North Iceland transfer, while the other asks you to check roads, walking and the return journey first.

The remaining photograph is a reminder of scale, not a vote. Goðafoss is easy to add to a route, while Dettifoss is worth a dedicated outing; those are different kinds of value.

Goðafoss: the easiest complete stop during a transfer

Visit Akureyri’s information places Goðafoss near Route 1, with parking and maintained paths on both sides of the river; the west bank is the shorter walk to the waterfall. Nearby Goðafoss Café/Fosshóll has a shop, café and toilets, but opening hours change with the season, so it is not a year-round supply guarantee. If you are staying in Mývatn the next morning, this is an easy first stretch after leaving Akureyri. If you have a whale-watching departure from Húsavík in the afternoon, put the check-in time ahead of the waterfall.

Travellers without a car should also note that bus 79 stops at Fosshóll–Goðafoss, but seats are limited and the timetable and operating dates need to be checked again. That makes Goðafoss more plausible than Dettifoss as a short stop for visitors without a rental car; it does not mean one bus will connect the whole North Iceland itinerary. If you are assessing public transport from Akureyri to Mývatn, first check whether bus 56 is enough, then treat Goðafoss as a stop you can actually complete rather than decoration on a map.

Dettifoss: confirm that today can carry it

The real cost of Dettifoss often comes before the waterfall itself. Visit North Iceland explains that west-bank Route 862 is paved but does not have full winter service; east-bank Route 864 is gravel and is usually closed in winter because of snow or wet mud. Check the current road conditions and opening dates for the year of travel. Vatnajökull National Park’s D1 route is about 1 kilometre one way from the west-bank car park to the viewpoint, around 1.5 kilometres return, with an estimated 30 minutes to 1 hour. Adding Selfoss makes D2 about 2.5 kilometres and roughly one hour.

Starting from Mývatn does not automatically make it “nearby”. You still need time for parking, outer layers, a slippery trail, photographs, the walk back to the car and the next leg towards Ásbyrgi or back to Mývatn. If you are travelling with older people or young children, have just finished a long drive, or have a fixed evening check-in, Dettifoss is not impossible; it needs to be the day’s main theme. Do not give it the same size of stop as Goðafoss, Húsavík and the Mývatn geothermal baths.

Which waterfall can your day actually carry?

I score these waterfalls against five practical questions rather than ending with the words “must-see”. These are editorial scores, not official ratings: a model for reusing the same North Iceland itinerary, with roads and facilities still checked against departure-date information.

If what you need today is a comfortable move through North Iceland, Goðafoss scores higher. If you have reserved a full day for the north-east, Dettifoss’s landscape reward can outweigh the road commitment. That is why I would not merge them into one “North Iceland waterfalls” checklist: they suit different travel situations.

Put all four places back on one honest map

The map below shows the relative positions of Akureyri, Goðafoss, Mývatn and Dettifoss. It does not draw a supposedly precise recommended route, because road access, weather and the direction of your accommodation have the final say. Its purpose is simple: Goðafoss is a transfer stop between Akureyri and Mývatn, while Dettifoss takes you into the eastern north; they are not two small stops for one afternoon.

ICENAVI · North waterfall choiceCheck tonight’s base before deciding how much weight to give the waterfall

AkureyriCity supplies / North Iceland baseGoðafoss (Waterfall of the Gods)A stop beside Route 1MývatnGeothermal area / eastbound exitDettifossEastern North Iceland / 862, 864

AkureyriCity services and a car-free base.GoðafossA short transfer stop.DettifossNeeds road and walking time to spare.

If you want both waterfalls, split the north into two working days

The common mistake is to see Goðafoss from Akureyri in the morning, continue to Mývatn at midday, drive on to Dettifoss in the afternoon and still expect to return to the original accommodation that night. It is not entirely impossible; it simply puts the attractions, roads, parking, walking and dinner on the assumption of one perfect clear day. If the road slows, a companion walks more slowly than expected or the Mývatn baths have a fixed entry time, rest is usually the first thing to disappear.

If you genuinely want both, use one of these structures: stop at Goðafoss during the Akureyri–Mývatn transfer, then make Dettifoss the main outing from Mývatn the next day; or connect Dettifoss with Ásbyrgi or the north-east, without driving back to Akureyri that evening. If you have only half a day extra, complete one properly and save the other for another trip rather than leaving both as photographs taken from a car park. For the right base between Mývatn, Húsavík and Akureyri, return to the North Iceland destination split. If you are still weighing city supplies, the Akureyri destination page sets out the other evening base. If whale watching and Forest Lagoon are also on the list, what to cut first from a two-day north plan addresses the fixed-time conflict between all three.